Imagine you have worked hard to build “brand you”.

• You have established a firm belief in your brand by uncovering your brand attributes, strengths, and unique promise of value.
• You have developed the tools you need to become your brand including a personal brand statement, a branded bio, and both an online and offline brand communication plan.
• And you are clearly, consistently and constantly managing your brand environment and brand identity to be your brand every day.

One day a “Google alert” pops into your email inbox.  You are eager see if your brand visibility and credibility is growing.  To your surprise you see something about you that is off-brand. People in your brand community begin to comment on this, tweet about it, and share it.  Before you know it your brand is in question. You might consider just blowing this off hoping it will disappear in cyberspace.  However, by not taking action your brand is derailed.

A ‘Derailed’ brand

In the world of cycling, when your chain is derailed your bicycle will not move forward – you cannot pedal, you cannot shift, and you run the risk of crashing. When this happens, you need to pull over, assess the damage, take out your tool kit, and make the necessary repairs before you try to pedal on.

It is almost inevitable that you will go off-brand, but if you have the proper tools and the right training you can repair your brand.  This reminds me of a Lance Armstrong commercial called “What am I on?”  Lance’s brand credibility was being questioned in the face of doping allegations in 2001. In response to the critics trying to derail his brand, Lance and Nike released this powerful commercial.

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